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The World Socialist Web Site is published by the International Committee of the Fourth International, the World Party of Socialist Revolution founded by Leon Trotsky . Its aim is to unite the international working class, on the basis of a socialist and internationalist program, to put an end to the capitalist system and establish socialism on a world scale.
The International Committee of the Fourth International is the sole representative of the historical continuity of the struggle waged by Trotsky, dating back to 1923, to defend the principles, program and heritage of the 1917 October Revolution .
The Fourth International was founded in 1938 in response to catastrophic defeats of the working class caused by the crimes and betrayals of the Stalinist and social democratic parties and organizations. In the founding document of the Fourth International , Trotsky declared that the crisis of mankind is the crisis of revolutionary leadership. The International Committee was founded 15 years later, in November 1953, to defend the Fourth International against an opportunist and revisionist current, known as Pabloism, that sought to liquidate the Fourth International into the parties and organizations controlled by Stalinism, social democracy and bourgeois nationalism. The struggle against Pabloism within the Fourth International spanned more than three decades. It was brought to a conclusion in 1986 with the defeat of the opportunists by the orthodox Trotskyists of the International Committee.
Still, the resolution of the crisis of revolutionary leadership remains the central task that must be overcome by the International Committee of the Fourth International through the building of sections of the world party in every region and country.
The documents, lectures, political reports, essays, statements and videos posted below will introduce readers to this history, program, present-day policies and activities of the International Committee.
International Committee: History, Program and Tasks
This lecture was delivered by David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the WSWS, at the opening of the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 21, 2019.
David North•
The fight for Trotskyism and the political foundations of the World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is publishing 1) The report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; and 2) North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
David North•